


Section Four: Hotland

by VenomQuill



Series: Fallen Under- Underfell Novel [4]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: CORE, F/F, F/M, Fallen Under, Hotland, Snowdin, Souls, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, The Ruins - Freeform, Underfell, Waterfall, kingdom - Freeform, undertale - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-01
Updated: 2017-02-03
Packaged: 2018-09-21 04:05:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9530777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VenomQuill/pseuds/VenomQuill
Summary: Frisk and Flowey find themselves leaving Waterfall behind. With its screaming marshes and constant flow of water, Waterfall must be the most haunting place in the Underground. Yet, as they come face-to-face with the new dangers of lava, heatstroke, vicious enemies, complex puzzles, robust and sadistic robots, and a soul so uncaring, it could be counted as colder than the biting frost of Snowdin, will the screaming marshes really sound so bad? Will Frisk and Flowey refuse the heat that raises tempers high, or will they degrade into the sad infighting so prevalent in the hottest place in the Underground?





	1. Quiz

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heya! We've just left behind the creepiest place in the Underground! Let's turn up the heat and go into Hotland!

          Frisk’s feet hit the warm stone of Hotland.

          They, Flowey over their shoulder, trod up the stairs and up to the small clearing. Lava flowed around them. Frisk set their hand on the little yellow sparkle floating above the land.

          _“Seeing such an ominous lab in the middle of fire and lava fills you with determination.”_

          Frisk turned and walked to the lab, which was just to their right. The door automatically opened upon Frisk’s arrival. Flowey shrank back into Frisk’s backpack as they entered the lab. “U-um- do we really have to do this?”

           “Of course. It’s the only way,” Frisk replied. It was dark- too dark to see anything. “In addition, she’s a friend. She’ll help us. If not, he will. If not him… then… we’ll figure it out. But I will always make sure that you are safe.”

           “Always?” Flowey asked in a tiny squeak. He was completely hidden in their backpack.

          Frisk smiled. “Always!”

          The lights turned on. Frisk and Flowey winced at the light. From a sliding metal door with a bathroom sign beside it came the oddest-looking reptile. She looked like a cross between a raptor and a bearded dragon. A lab coat covered her torso and flowed down to the base of her tail. Although it might have been white, various stains of various colors and sizes yet to be bleached out peppered it. Underneath the lab coat was a black-and-red-striped shirt and dark pants. The reptilian monster looked up. Her glasses flashed in the light. Although they could see through the right one, the left one was clouded and decorated by a hypnotic swirl. “You’re the human.” The reptile’s voice was quiet and monotonous.

           “Yep! My name is Frisk!” The young human announced.

          The reptile approached them. Although her legs were long, they were currently bend down so that she was hardly a foot, if that, off the ground. Her large feet ending in talons shuffled over the clean tile floor. Dr. Alphys stopped in front of Frisk and tipped her head. “So, you are Frisk.” She put her hand on Frisk’s shoulder and brushed her scaly fingers against their cheek. “Hmm. A different texture than I expected. Humans usually have less soft skin. Then again, you are younger than quite a few of the humans that fall down. Most of them are around ten or eleven. The oldest was thirteen. It was a male and had a feisty nature. You are the youngest to yet fall down. Eight I presume?”

          Frisk nodded. “Yeah. I’m eight. Why?”

           “You are identical to the young human that King Asgore and Queen Toriel kept a long time ago. They were at the age of eight,” Dr. Alphys replied in the same quiet, monotonous voice. She walked around them to inspect the young human. “Odd. You are a pretty one. It is difficult to determine your gender from your stance and clothes. You stand like a male, but speak like a female. Your hair is neither male nor female in traditional human style. Human females have longer hair. Human males have shorter hair- at least, in the traditions of the humans around this area. I have been watching you, child. You need not fret. I will not take you.” Dr. Alphys stopped in front of Frisk. Then, looking them straight in the eyes and avoiding any type of emotion, they stated, “But you will die.”

           “Oh.” Frisk recoiled. “Um… can you help me? I’m trying to–”

           “-get to the king’s palace. From there, you will attempt to reason with the king. Then you will somehow find a way to destroy the barrier. I know. You will not succeed. Humans cannot absorb human souls and monsters cannot absorb monster souls. You are required to die in order to free the monsters. But first, you will need to get to the king’s palace. Give to me your phone. I will make useful adjustments.” She held out her scaly hand.

          Frisk took out their ancient cellphone and put it in her hand. “There you go.”

           “Odd. This phone is very old.” The scientist inspected the thing. “I would enjoy studying this. Perhaps later. Wait here.” Dr. Alphys turned and strode over to the stairs beside the door. This time, she unfolded her legs a bit so that her strides were longer and thus her walk was faster. Though the stairs were an automatic escalator, Dr. Alphys walked up them.

           “She’s quite odd,” Frisk commented. “I’m pretty surprised. She doesn’t look mad… or surprised… or happy… or anything.”

          Flowey shook his head. “I-I know. She never shows emotions anywhere except near Captain Undyne. She has no soul, I swear it.”

          Frisk shook their head. “She has a soul. Everyone does. She’s even helping us right now!”

           “Yeah.” Flowey didn’t come out of their backpack.

          Dr. Alphys strode down the escalator. Surprisingly, she was able to get down the up escalator fairly easily. The scientist stopped before Frisk and held out the phone. “This is yours. I have made some adjustments to it. It will aid you in getting through puzzles and most of Mettaton’s tricks. You may leave now.” She shuffled out of the way.

           “Oh. Um… okay. Thanks!” Frisk waved and started to walk out. However, a low rumbling crash stopped them. Dr. Alphys perked up and wandered forward. The crashing noise sounded again, though now it was closer. “What’s that?” Frisk yipped and looked about.

           “It’s an interesting noise,” Dr. Alphys answered.

          The crash came again. This time, it made the floor shake. Frisk jumped back with a gasp. Dr. Alphys did not react to the noise with any emotion other than curiosity. “Oh.” Then, the wall burst open. The lights went out.

           “OH YES! WELCOME, BEAUTIES-” The lights flicked on. A giant metal rectangle shimmered in the light. The robot’s dark exterior glinted red and stormy gray. Four arms, each one held beside it with grace, sprouted from its side. A single wheel made up its leg. “-TO TODAY’S QUIZ SHOW!” Clapping and music came out of seemingly nowhere. Flowey looked about. Cameras blinked on from around the room. “OH, I CAN ALREADY TELL ITS GOING TO BE A GREAT SHOW! EVERYONE GIVE A BIG ROUND OF APPLAUSE FOR OUR WONDERFUL CONTESTANT!” Mettaton clapped with his two free hands. His second left hand was actually a canon. His right hand held a microphone. Glitter rained form the ceiling and twirled about Frisk. “NEVER PLAYED BEFORE, GORGEOUS?” Frisk shook their head. “NO PROBLEM! IT’S SIMPLE! THERE’S ONLY ONE RULE! ANSWER CORRECTLY… OR DIE!”

          Frisk’s soul appeared before their body. Mettaton waved at them. Dr. Alphys stood relatively near his left side. Although she looked quite often to Mettaton, her gaze always found itself back to Frisk.

          _“Mettaton- Attack 10, Defense 999. HP ??? His metal body renders him invulnerable to attack.”_

          Frisk bit their tongue. Oh, how were they going to get out of this one?

           “LET’S START WITH AN EASY ONE!” Mettaton crowd and slid out of the way. He held up a piece of paper. Behind him, an electronic board flashed.

           “‘What is the prize for answering correctly?’” Flowey read aloud. Four buttons, all gold, appeared before them, just within arm’s reach. “I’ll read from top left to top right, bottom left to bottom right,” Flowey informed them. “‘A. Money, B. Mercy, C. New Car, D. More Questions.” Flowey glanced up at Dr. Alphys. She stared at him and, when she found he expected her to answer the question, showed him her middle finger. Flowey hesitated and then stated, “Pick D.”

          Frisk held out their hand on the letter ‘D’. Nothing happened. Frisk took their soul and guided it to the button. Letter choice D flashed gold.

           “RIGHT! SOUNDS LIKE YOU GET IT!” Mettaton laughed with a wave of his paper. “NOW HERE’S YOUR TERRIFIC PRIZE!” The board changed words.

           “‘What is the king’s full name?’” Flowey prompted. “‘A. Lord Asgore. B. King Dreemurr. C. King Asgore Dreamurr. D. Lord Dreemurr.’ What? Those _are_ his names. Um… er… C. Pick C.” Frisk nodded and guided their heart to the ‘C’ button.

           “TERRIFIC!” Mettaton cried. “ENOUGH ABOUT YOU, NOW ABOUT ME!” The board flashed with the third question.

           “‘What are robots made of?’” Flowey read. “‘A. Electronics and Blood. B. Metal and Magic. C. Souls and Metal. D. Souls and Magic.’ …B.” Frisk chose the letter ‘B’.

           “TOO EASY FOR YOU, HUH? HERE’S ANOTHER EASY ONE FOR YOU!” The sign flashed with words almost too small to see.

           “‘Two trains, Train A and Train B, simultaneously depart Station A and Station B. Station A and Station B are 252.5 miles apart from each other. Train A is moving at 124.7mph toward Station B, and Train B is moving at 253.5mph toward Station A. If both trains depart at 10:00 AM, and it is now 10:40 AM, how much longer until the trains pass each other?’” Flowey wheezed in exasperation. “‘A. 31.054 minutes. B. 16.232 minutes. C. 32.049 minutes. D. 32.058 minutes.’ What the heck? Is this even supposed to be possible!? Um… A? M-maybe choose A.” Frisk, with some hesitation, guided their soul to the letter choice ‘A’. It flashed scarlet. The letter choices vanished.

           “Ha-ha!” Mettaton laughed and pointed his canon-hand at them. “You wish.” The canon blazed with light. _Chzuuuum! Chink!_

          _You cannot give up just yet… Chara! Stay determined…_

 

          Frisk gasped and put a hand to their chest. They could still feel the singing heat of the laser in their chest. Flowey squeaked, “I told you! We _really_ shouldn’t go in there!”

           “We don’t have any other choice,” Frisk denied. They glanced back at the elevator. A rabbit and dragon guards were stationed in front of it. “We’ll get it right. So, it definitely wasn’t ‘A’. Let’s try ‘D’ next time.”

           “Why ‘D’?” Flowey prompted.

           “For determination!” Frisk purred.

          The flower rolled his eyes. “Well… let’s hope this works. Come on.”

          Frisk trotted inside. It didn’t take long before Mettaton made his grand entrance. The first few problems were very easy. That was, until…

           “TOO EASY FOR YOU, HUH?” Mettaton cried. “HERE’S ANOTHER EASY ONE FOR YOU!” The sign flashed with words almost too small to see.

           “‘Two trains, Train A and Train B, simultaneously depart Station A and Station B. Station A and Station B are 252.5 miles apart from each other. Train A is moving at 124.7mph toward Station B, and Train B is moving at 253.5mph toward Station A. If both trains depart at 10:00 AM, and it is now 10:40 AM, how much longer until the trains pass each other?’” Flowey wheezed in exasperation. “‘A. 31.054 minutes. B. 16.232 minutes. C. 32.049 minutes. D. 32.058 minutes.’ Choose ‘D’.”

          Frisk guided their soul to the letter ‘D’. The option lit up and music blared in excitement.

           “WONDERFUL!” Mettaton crowed and set a hand on his ‘head’. “I’M ASTOUNDED, FOLKS! DON’T ‘COUNT’ ON YOUR VICTORY!” The screen changed.

           “‘How many flies are this jar?’” Flowey prompted. A jar full of flies buzzed on screen. “‘A. 54. B. 53. C. 55. D. 52.’ Um… A…?” Frisk chose the letter in which Flowey advised.

           “CORRECT! YOU’RE SO LUCKY TODAY! LET’S PLAY A MEMORY GAME!” The screen flashed with an object.

           “That looks like Froggit…” Flowey mumbled. “‘A. Froggit. B. Whimsum. C. Moldsmal. D. Mettaton.’ A?”

           “HA-HA!” Mettaton laughed. “YOU WISH!” Frisk took a few steps back. The laser that Mettaton pointed at them blazed with light. _Chzuuuum! Chink!_

 

          _You cannot give up just yet… Chara! Stay determined…_

 

          Frisk and Flowey appeared outside again. They, with considerably less excitement, had to go through the entire thing again.

           “CORRECT! YOU’RE SO LUCKY TODAY! LET’S PLAY A MEMORY GAME!” The screen flashed with an object. It looked life half of froggit’s face.

           “‘A. Froggit. B. Whimsum. C. Moldsmal. D. Mettaton.’ …D,” Flowey decided. “The narcissist.”

           “OH, YOU REMEMBERED? HOW SWEET!” Mettaton cackled as the screen panned out to a picture of Mettaton wearing a Froggit shirt. “HERE’S A SIMPLE ONE!” The screen flashed.

           “‘How many letters in the name Mettaton?’” Flowey read aloud. “Huh what’s- oh.” The letter ‘n’ kept writing itself at the end of his name, thus extending it. All four answers changed into higher amounts as more letters were added. “C…?” C was the correct choice.

           “OH OF COURSE THAT WAS CORRECT! NOW ONTO-” Mettaton cut himself off abruptly. “TSK, TSK, TSK, DR. ALPHYS. YOU HAVEN’T BEEN HELPING OUR CONTESTANT, HAVE YOU?” Dr. Alphys gave him a short shake of her head.

          Flowey huffed in exasperation, “So he thinks it’s impossible we could’ve won without outside help?”

          Mettaton went on, “OOOH! YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME! I’LL ASK YOU A QUESTION… YOU’LL BE SURE TO KNOW THE ANSWER TO!” The screen flashed again.

           “‘Who does Dr. Alphys have a crush on?’ What…?” Flowey read aloud. “A. Captain Undyne. B. King Asgore. C. The human. D. The unknown.” Flowey glanced at Dr. Alphys. The reptilian scientist gave him a very cold stare. She flicked her fingers so that they looked like a small ‘D’ before intertwining her fingers. “U-Um… D. Chose D.” Frisk pressed both hands on the letter D. Dr. Alphys gave them a curt nod.

           “CORRECT! DR. ALPHYS HAS A CRUSH ON… THE UNKNOWABLE. SHE BELIEVES THAT THERE IS SOMEONE OUT THERE, WATCHING HER, WHO ACTUALLY LIKES HER. TOO BAD THEY’RE NOT REAL. THEORETICAL PERSON, COME OUT! GIVE US A SIGN!” Dr. Alphys narrowed her eyes at him. He played a derisive laugh track. Otherwise, nothing happened. “THAT SETTLES IT, THEN. WELL, WELL, WELL. WITH DR. ALPHYS HELPING YOU, THIS SHOW HAS LOST ITS DRAMATIC ACTION. BUT! THIS WAS JUST A PILOT EPISODE! STAY TUNED, FOLKS, FOR MORE ACTION, MORE ROMANCE, MORE BLOODSHED! UNTIL NEXT TIME, DARLINGS!” Mettaton’s arms folded into himself as did his leg. He was launched back into the wall and out of sight by a rocket. The glitter stopped falling and the cameras turned off.

           “Wise choices, Flowey.” Dr. Alphys looked back at the flower. He melted back into Frisk’s backpack. The scientist turned back to Frisk. “You should go, now, if you seek to find the king prior to night. By night you will be tired and sloppier. You might die before you reach the castle.” The reptile shrugged and walked back into the bathroom.

          Flowey wheezed, “We should leave. Now.”

           “Okay.” Frisk trotted to the end of the room.

          Outside, there was a thin trail leading up to two very thick, very long conveyer belts. One led up to the next area of stone. One led down from that area to the trail. Frisk strolled onto the conveyer belt going away from the lab. Eventually, Flowey’s head left Frisk’s backpack. He straightened up and looked about. “This place is pretty treacherous. There are a lot of cliffs that fall into lava. Be careful. I’ll make sure you don’t fall. Just don’t start running or leaping.”

          Frisk nodded. “Okay, Flowey. Thanks. Oh dear!” They stopped as they nearly tripped over a little volcano with legs. Its little face was upturned in a smile and its eyes were closed. Vulkin strolled in.

          _“Vulkin- Attack 25, Defense 5. HP 25. It doesn’t know fire burns. It thinks it’s a healer.”_

           “Thunder!” The little orange volcano crowed. A puff of steam manifested itself into a cloud. Electricity buzzed through it and finally exploded. Flowey helped Frisk and rushed instructions to dodge. Unfortunately, the attacks were quick and strong. They managed to dodge most it, though a few hit them. Cracks formed in their soul.

           “U-um… you’re not a healer,” Frisk pointed out. “B-but if you really try and practice, you can be?”

           “Not… useful?” Vulkin whimpered. “No… useful.” Its attack stopped.

           “Oh no! I didn’t mean it like that!” Frisk gasped. “I meant that you might not be a healer now, but if you really try and you really study, you can be!”

           “Really?” Vulkin smiled again.

           “Yes! Now go start learning!” Frisk crowed.

           “Okay! Thank you!” Vulkin turned and strolled away.

          Frisk sighed happily and continued forth. “Well… that was something. I hope they learn how to heal. That would be nice. Let’s go ahead!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I knew Mettaton's quiz was always too easy...


	2. Warm Kitten

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fiery Feline.

          Ahead, more of the conveyer belts lay in wait. This next one twisted about like a serpent’s slither. At the end of it was a little island with a golden sparkle. Whooshing of the steam vents nearby filled their ears.

          _“The whooshing sounds of the steam and cogs fill you with determination.”_

          The cracks in their soul mended themselves. Vents decorated little islands in a confusing mess of ground and steam. Upon stepping on one of the vents, they were launched in the air and fell onto the ground of the island. Frisk stood up and dusted themselves off. “Oh goodness. Isn’t there a better way of moving around?”

           “Probably. But monsters love intricacy and puzzles,” Flowey admitted. The whirring of an engine stopped them. Frisk and Flowey halted and turned forward. A helicopter with a bonnet hovered before them. Yanderecopter gets in the way… completely on purpose.

          _“Yanderecopter- Attack 25, Defense 26. HP 80. This helicopter means business… does it really like you?”_

          The helicopter huffed, “No way. Why would I like _you?”_ The helicopter spun about the air around them. Little bombs rained around them. Although Frisk and Flowey were able to dodge them, the strips of smoke and fire were not easy to dodge. Cracks reemerged in their soul. Yanderecopter showed off its tail blades, its gaze bright and yet sharp.

          Flowey glanced at Frisk. “Ah… I don’t like the look of this helicopter.”

          Frisk narrowed their eyes and smiled. They took a step toward them. “You’re looking nice today.”

          The helicopter hovered a few inches away. “E-eh? What?” A green aura faintly glowed around the copter. Frisk waved their hand through it. The helicopter backed off further. “E-eh-? Whatever. Keep your hands to yourself.” The helicopter scoffed and flew away.

           “That was weird,” Flowey commented. “Let’s keep moving, though.”

          Frisk nodded and wandered about some more. They ended up getting to a piece of land that held a large half-circle of conveyers around it. There was a gap, however, between the stone and conveyers. Both of them led around to the island. On one side, a frying pan was on the ground. Nothing was on the other side.

           “There are some arrows here,” Flowey commented. “Well, one arrow. But it’s changing constantly. Is the steam moving with it…? Frisk, when I tell you to jump on it, jump, okay?”

           “Okay. What’s special about this one?”

           “Jump!” Flowey encouraged. Frisk hopped onto the vent. It launched them onto the small island with the frying pan. “The direction of the steam changed with the direction of the arrow. So, what’s that?”

          _“Burnt pan: Attack 10. Food heals more. Attacks are consistent.”_

           “Oh! It makes food better,” Frisk informed him.

           “It only works if you’re holding it, though,” Flowey pointed out.

           “I can’t carry a frying pan in my hand all the time, though!” Frisk pointed out.

           “Put it in your bag and take it out during battle,” Flowey advised. “It also has a large area. Maybe you could block attacks!”

           “Oh! That actually sounds really cool. Thanks!” Frisk set their gloves inside of their bag along with their pan. With that, they trotted off, feet light and head in the air.

          The next area they came to was full of lasers. Frisk tipped their head. “Should we ask Dr. Alphys for help?”

          Flowey shook his head violently. “No! Er- isn’t Papyrus good with puzzles?”

           “Oh yeah! He is! Thanks for reminding me.” Frisk took out their phone and dialed the number on it.

           “HELLO? HUMAN?”

           “Hello, Papyrus!” Frisk purred.

           “OH! DID YOU NEED SOMETHING…?”

           “Well, I’m at a puzzle,” Frisk replied. “I can’t figure it out. But you’re good with puzzles. So, I thought I’d call you!”

           “INDEED, I AM GOOD AT PUZZLES! WHAT DOES THIS ONE LOOK LIKE?” Papyrus prompted.

           “Well, it’s just a long hallway with a bunch of lasers. There are a bunch of orange lasers that are standing still. There are a few blue ones that are moving back and forth. The lasers are kind of low so I can’t go under them or above them. Do you know what means? Er- what they do?” Frisk inquired.

           “ORANGE AND BLUE LASERS? OH OF COURSE! DO YOU REMEMBER RED ATTACKS? WELL, BLUE LASERS ARE SIMILAR. YOU CAN’T MOVE WHEN THEY HIT YOU. IF YOU DON’T MOVE, THEY WON’T HURT YOU! ORANGE ATTACKS, AND LASERS, ARE THE OPPOSITE OF RED ATTACKS. THEREFORE, YOU KEEP MOVING THROUGH THEM!” Papyrus explained.

           “Oh! Thanks, Papyrus!” Frisk purred. “I’m going to see if I can do it, now.”

           “CALL ME BACK ANYTIME!” _Click._

          Frisk trotted straight through the orange lasers. When the moving blue lasers came, both Frisk and Flowey stood stock-still. Once the lasers passed, the two continued. When the lasers came back, they stopped. Eventually, they were able to get past the lasers. A button on a tall pillar stood on the other side. Upon tapping it, the lasers were deactivated. “That was simple enough,” Frisk purred.

          The next puzzle wasn’t that simple.

          There were three pieces of land that all encountered the same wall. All three had entrances, but only the middle had doors. A vent went to all three and all three had vents that went back to the center.

          Flowey looked about. “Hmm… let’s try going to those side rooms. Let’s go right, first.”

           “Okay!” Frisk purred and jumped onto the vent once the arrow pointed right. The entryway with an upside-down heart above it led to a small room. A game with a ship on either side and squares in the middle lit up upon entering. There was a note on the ground. Frisk knelt beside it.

           “‘Shoot the opposing ship. Move blocks to complete your mission,’” Flowey read aloud. “Okay. Simple enough. Start up the game. I’ll tell you where to go.” The screen lit up. Four white, full boxes filled the corners. Two hollow boxes were in the space on the top and the space on bottom. Two tear-drop, red icons glowed near their ‘ship’. “Okay. Down one, right one.” Frisk complied. One empty box filled the left empty space. One of them blocked the entryway. “Shoot twice.” Frisk pressed the ‘shoot’ button twice. The empty box exploded from the first shot. The enemy ship broke upon being hit with the second attack. “Good job!”

          Frisk beamed. “Yeah! Hopefully that did something!” They turned and trotted outside. The upside-down heart above the door glowed with neon lights.

          The left side held the same puzzle. However, this puzzle was guarded by a laser. It was a stationary blue laser. “Oh dear,” Frisk mumbled. “We can’t go through there.”

          _Brriiiing! Briiing! Br-_ “Hello? This is Frisk.”

           “Frisk.” Dr. Alphys’ emotionless voice came out of the receiver. “This blue laser will hurt you if you move through it. I am deactivating it now. If you come across impossible puzzles like this, wait for me to call. Goodbye.” _Click._ The blue laser shut off.

           “She’s helping us,” Frisk informed him.

           “I don’t trust her,” Flowey stated. “I don’t. But let’s get this over with.”

          This was just a bit more complex. The screen was wider and there were more white boxes and empty boxes. Flowey thought for a moment. “Hmm… okay. Down. Left. Up. Left. Shoot. Shoot. Nice!” The puzzle, complete, deactivated itself. Frisk trotted out of the room, a happy smile dressing them. The door, now that both puzzles were solved, opened.

          This next area was a bit odd. Frisk turned the corner and jumped onto a vent. This launched them onto another vent which launched them into a third. Finally, they landed on shiny ground covered in blue tiles with gold circles in the center. Frisk looked about and kept going. Upon entering a door, they were greeted by pitch black. Before they could walk back out, the door shut and locked itself. “O-oh no,” Frisk breathed and looked about. “Oh dear. What’s happening? What-?” They cut themselves off. Or, rather, they were cut off.

          Lights blazed in the kitchen that they were in. Frisk looked about. Flowey copied. However, upon hearing a familiar, robotic voice, both turned to see the third entity on the room. Behind the counter and wearing a chief’s hat, Mettaton called, “OH YES! WELCOME, BEAUTIES, TO THE UNDERGROUND’S PREMIER COOKING SHOW!” Pink words in curly writing flashed above them. “Cooking With a Killer Robot.” Sparkles danced about the words before they faded. Mettaton went on, “PRE-HEAT YOUR OVENS BECAUSE WE’VE GOT A SPECIAL RECIPE FOR YOU TODAY! WE’RE GOING TO BE MAKING… A CAKE! MY LOVELY ASSISTANT HERE WILL BE GATHERING THE INGREDIENTS. GIVE THEM A ROUND OF APPLAUSE EVERYBODY!” An audio tape of people clapping sounded somewhere nearby. Glitter swirled around them. Flowey coughed as pieces of glitter got in his mouth. “WE WILL NEED SUGAR, MILK, AND EGGS. GO FOR IT, SWEETHEART!”

          Frisk looked about. “Er…”

           “Up on the counter, under the, uh, window. They’re all there,” Flowey instructed. Frisk trotted over to the counter where the ingredients were indeed there. Flowey carried the heaviest ingredient, the milk, while Frisk carried the flour and eggs.

          After Frisk and Flowey put down the ingredients, Mettaton crowed, “PERFECT! GOOD JOB, BEAUTIFUL! WE’VE GOT ALL OF THE INGREDIENTS WE NEED TO BAKE THE CAKE! MILK… SUGAR… EGGS… OH MY! WAIT ONE MAGNIFICENT MOMENT! HOW COULD I HAVE SO EASILY FORGOTTEN THE MOST IMPORTANT INGREDIENT? A HUMAN SOUL!” Mettaton, cackling in glee, aimed his canon-hand at them.

           “W-wait!” Flowey cried. “Are you not thinking about your audience?” Frisk jumped and looked back at their flower friend.

           “WHAT?” Mettaton prompted.

           “I mean, how could you use a living ingredient if you have vegans in your audience? And of people who cannot acquire a human soul?” Flowey prompted. “They’ll need to use a substitution. But you’re the one making the show, so how could they know what to look for?”

          Mettaton hesitated and lowered his canon-hand. “OH, SILLY ME! YOU ARE COMPLETELY RIGHT, FLOWER! THANKFULLY, I DO HAVE A NON-HUMAN SUBSTITION. MTT-BRAND HUMAN-FLAVOR-SUBSTITUTE! MY FRIENDLY ASSISTANT, DO YOU MIND GRABBING IT? IT’S JUST ON THAT COUNTER OVER THERE.” He waved his hand at the wooden counter just out of the kitchen.

          Frisk darted over to the counter. Before they could take it, the wooden counter shuttered, lowered, and then raced up. Frisk and Flowey watched as the counter raced higher and higher.

           “OH! BY THE WAY, DARLING. THIS SHOW RUNS ON A STRICT SCHEDULE. IF YOU DON’T GET THAT INGREDIENT IN _ONE MINUTE_ , WE’LL HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE _ORIGINAL PLAN!_ BETTER START CLIMBING, BEAUTIFUL!” Mettaton purred. He flew up into the air.

          Frisk took a deep breath. “Well. This is a problem. We’re just going to have to find a solution. I can’t climb, and even if I could, that is way too high. Can you reach it? Or climb?”

           “I could, but that would take a while,” Flowey answered. “Since it’s not a piece of the ground, I can’t go there on my own.”

          _Briii-_ “Hello? This is Frisk!”

           “Frisk. I altered your phone. There’s a jet-pack on it. Press the button.” _Click._ Dr. Alphys hung up the phone. Frisk looked at their little red and yellow phone. Flowey pressed the little button labeled “jet-pack”. The phone expanded. Within seconds, it was almost as big as Frisk. That and it snapped to their back like a magnet. It pushed the backpack with Flowey up a bit. Frisk and Flowey were shot into the air.

          Frisk screamed in fright and held out their arms to stabilize themselves. Somewhere above them, Mettaton laughed. Then, he started throwing eggs at them. “Oh my God.” Flowey looked up at the tiny projectiles. “He’s throwing eggs at you. Okay, follow my direction. Left. Left! Stop. A little to right. Keep going. A little bit forward! Ugh. That one was close.” Eggs stopped raining from the sky. Mettaton whipped out a bag of flour and began to throw bits into the air. Although Frisk attempted to dodge, some flour still got on them. Eventually, the flour was put away and replaced by milk. The milk was replaced by eggs and it started over again. By the time Frisk and Flowey got to the top of the counter, They were both covered in flour, eggs, and milk. Flowey sighed in relief. “Oh, thank God. Let’s just get this thing and get out of here, huh?”

           “MY, MY,” Mettaton clicked. “IT SEEMS YOU’VE BESTED ME. BUT NOT WITHOUT THE HELP OF DR. ALPHYS. DON’T WORRY ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS. I’VE ALREADY PRE-BAKED THE CAKE. TOODLES!” Mettaton zipped away.

          The young human and the flower gently descended. Their jetpack shrunk back into a phone. “Blegh!” Frisk huffed. “I have enough ‘ingredients’ on me to bake two cakes!”

           “Got that right,” Flowey huffed and coughed up some flour. “I hope there’s a bath or something here. I’m sort of missing Waterfall.”

          Frisk chuckled. “No kidding. It’s fitting we’re in Hotland, though. Maybe if we wait long enough, we’ll become a cake!” A yellow sparkle appeared before them as they walked on the thin trail.

          _“Thinking of becoming a cake fills you with determination.”_

           “What’s that?” Frisk inquired. A large dark mass broke up the red lava.

           “It’s the Core,” Flowey explained. “It supplies the entire underground with electricity. You can get to an elevator to the king’s castle from there.”

          At the end of the trail was an elevator. “Oh!” Frisk gasped. “Wasn’t there an elevator back by the guards?”

          Flowey nodded. “Yeah. Are you thinking we can go there and wash off in Waterfall?”

          Frisk nodded in enthusiasm. “Yep!”

 

          It turned out that Waterfall wasn’t the best place to wash off. Although it was full of water, there was no place where there wasn’t someone. So, they got to wash off their clothes at the same time as themselves. This proved problematic as Flowey, somehow trying not to get too wet washing himself off, fell into the river. Frisk had to dive after him. So, wet and cold, the flower and human trotted back to the elevator. The guards had left, surprisingly. Getting to the floor labeled ‘F-2’ was easy enough.

          Frisk trotted down the trail. Eventually, they came across a very happy Vulkin who had a hotdog in its crater. Sans’ hotdog stand stood nearby. The skeleton raised an eyebrow at Frisk and Flowey. “what happened? got in a fight with a water puddle?”

          Frisk shook their head. “Nope. We got dragged into Mettaton’s cooking show and he nearly drowned us in milk, flour, and eggs. We thought Waterfall would be a good place to get washed up. One of us fell in.” Frisk shrugged. “The other had to help them.”

          Flowey huffed, “It wasn’t my fault! You put the backpack too close to the water.”

          Frisk looked back at them. “Uh-huh. It was a perfect distance away. You just wanted to see your reflection.” Flowey huffed and Frisk giggled in his indignance. She turned back to Sans. “Anyway, what’s up?”

           “just running a stand,” Sans answered with a shrug. “nothin’ big. wanna hotcat?”

           “A hotcat?” Frisk echoed.

           “yeah. a hotcat,” Sans answered.

           “Is that like a hotdog?” the young human prompted.

           “…sure. 30g.” The small skeleton shrugged and held out a hand. “Want one or not?”

           “Should we?” Frisk prompted. “I’ve never had a hotcat before!”

           “We don’t have very much in the way of g, though,” Flowey pointed out.

          Frisk dug through their pocket. “No. No, when I dug you out of the river, I found some coins. So…” they pulled out a handful and started counting. “…28, 29, 30. 30! Here you go!” Frisk dropped the coin in Sans’ hand. They received a hotcat in return. It looked like a hotdog, but with cat ears.

           “here’s your hotcat.”

           “Aw! It’s so cute! Look, Flowey!” They held up the food item for Flowey to inspect.

          Flowey nodded. “Yeah. Cute. Let’s go.”

           “Okay.” Frisk gently put away the hotcat. “Thanks, Sans!”

          Sans’ smirk widened. “hey, kid. i, uh, just remembered somethin’. i have some ’dogs if you want them.”

          Frisk brightened. “Really? Thanks! How much?”

           “eh… 30g.”

          Flowey cut in, “Sorry. We don’t have it. Guess we’ll have to get going.”

          Frisk pouted. “Sure, we do!”

           “Don’t pay him!” Flowey growled. “You’ll only encourage him!”

           “To do what?” Frisk prompted. “Sell hotdogs?”

           “Yes,” Flowey agreed.

           “Where I lived, selling food was an acceptable position,” Frisk informed him. “Besides, it’s tradition to encourage people selling food like hotdogs, pizza, ice cream, popcorn, and that stuff.”

           “Ice cream?” Flowey prompted.

           “Yeah, ice cream. You know, the ice cream man? He passes out ice cream and snow cones and stuff?” Frisk prompted.

           “I never heard of it…?”

          Frisk hesitated. “You know… that explains a lot, actually. When we get to the surface, I’m taking you straight to the ice cream shop! …what were we doing?”

           “you were buyin’ a ’dog,” Sans piped up.

           “Oh! Right!” Frisk handed Sans the amount needed.

           “enjoy your ’dog, kid. wait. looks like your hands are full. …guess i’ll just put it on your head.” Sans set the hotdog on Frisk’s head. Frisk looked up and chuckled.

           “Can I get another?”

           “yeah, sure. it’s on the house. what i mean by that, is it’s on you.” Sans set the hotdog on top of the first one on Frisk’s head.

          Flowey piped up, “We have room in our bag, you know,” Flowey pointed out.

          Sans set another hotdog on their head, before Frisk had asked. “nah, really? oh well.”

          Frisk giggled. “Oh! Another!”

           “Frisk…” Flowey groaned. “You’re going to fall and hurt yourself!”

          Sans lifted another hotdog with telekinesis to land on their head. “there ya go.”

           “Another!”

           “heh. another.” Sans stacked another hotdog on their head. Eventually, it got to the point where there were thirty hot dogs on their head. “now, kid, i’ll be _frank_ with you. as much as i love putting hotdogs on your head, thirty is just an excessive number. twenty-nine? now that’s an acceptable number. but thirty? no.”

         Frisk giggled and patted the hot dog stack on their head. “Wow! That’s so cool!”

           “yeah. now, how are you going to get them down?” the skeleton prompted.

          Frisk’s smile slowly left them. Sans snickered. Flowey glowered at him and turned to Frisk. “You do realize you had this coming, right? Let’s see if we can just knock a few off…”

          Sans drawled, “i would try not to let them all hit the ground. it’s bad for business for my food to be on the ground, you know.” His eyes flashed. “bad for business is bad for the offender.” Frisk’s eyes grew round in terror. Flowey looked up at the stack of hotdogs on their head. Sans burst into laughter. “god, kid! i’m teasin’ you. you really get worked up, don’t you?”

          Flowey hissed at him and turned forward. “Goodbye, trashbag.” He whacked the stack of hotdogs on Frisk’s head. They managed to catch an armful, though only a few more could fit in their bag.

           “See ya around!”

           “see ya.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kelvin Kitty.


	3. Cobwebs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mmm Hotland has the most food of any section. I'm not even mad.

          Frisk bounded down the trail. It was slightly thicker than the ones they usually traveled, but not by much. Frisk opened their mouth to talk but instead gasped in surprise and stopped. A rope in a spiral pattern with shoes and fire for a head appeared before them. Pyrope bounded toward them!

           _“Pyrope- Attack 29, Defense 14. HP 120. This monster is never hot enough.”_

           “Hot enough for ya?” Pyrope cackled. A tall white barrier followed by many others slid toward them. A ball of orange wall made to look like fire cut it in half.

           “How- is this even possible?” Flowey yelped.

          Frisk set their gaze. “I’m jumping through it.”

           “WHAT?!”

          Frisk tensed and leaped. The orange attack failed to injure them. Flowey stopped screaming and looked about in surprise as Frisk jumped through each hole. Orange was a very sharp contrast to white so they could see it clearly enough to jump through it. The attacks stopped. Pyrope bounced up and down.

           “What can we do?” Flowey inquired. “We don’t have any fire!”

          Frisk hesitated and thought for a moment. “Hmm…” They glanced behind them. Vulkin was standing about. The hot dog was gone. “Vulkin! Pyrope needs your healing fire!”

          Vulkin perked up and strolled toward them. “Healing!” it cooed. Fire erupted from its crater, spattering Pyrope in flaming lava. The creature cackled in glee and spun around under the lava like a child in the rain.

          Frisk ducked their head and darted away from the two monsters. They stumbled across a diverging path. The only thing it led to was an island holding an apron. “Oh! What’s this?”

           “An apron,” Flowey replied.

           _“Stained Apron. Defense 11. Heals 1 HP every other turn.”_

           “Oh!” Frisk gasped. “It heals me!” They tied the strap around their neck and behind their waist. Frisk giggled and spun around in a circle. “What do you think?” They took off the backpack and held Flowey out at arm’s length.

           “It looks pretty good!” Flowey complimented. “And it’s useful. But we should keep going. You’re doing very well.”

          Frisk beamed and trotted down the path. This led to a conveyor belt and three buttons. A forcefield was on the other side. Flowey thought for a moment. “Hmm… I think we need to press all three buttons.”

           “Okay! Let’s do it!” They jumped onto the conveyor belt. Flowey tapped all three buttons so that Frisk wasn’t in danger of falling off. The forcefield died. Unfortunately, when they got to the next area, they were stopped. Nothing physically blocked their way. They were just presented with a very complex arrangement of small islands filled with vents. Some had only one vent while two had four vents. All but the one at the top and the vents at the very button had a button in the center of their island. When a button was pressed, the vent direction was switched.

          It took them a while to complete.

          Eventually, the two got to the other side. By the time the puzzle was complete, the young human and flower companion had dried off almost completely.

          A little golden sparkle was near the trail leading away from the puzzle. A thick wall bordered it with a tiny little hole in it. On a table was a safe that held a little slice of cheese.

           _“Knowing that one day the mouse will find a way to hack into the computerized safe and get the cheese, it fills you with determination.”_

           “Well, little mouse, I hope that you get that cheese!” Frisk purred and continued on.

           “What is it with mice and cheese around the underground?” Flowey thought aloud.

          Frisk shrugged. “There are mice everywhere, I suppose.”

           “Hey! You! Stop!” Frisk jumped and spun around. Two guards in heavy armor approached them. Those were the two guards near the elevator!

          The rabbit stated, “We’ve received an anonymous tip about a human in a striped shirt. And so we… were going to… escort you to someplace safe.” His eyes narrowed. The one in the spiked helmet glanced at the bunny. “Huh? Yeah, they do match that description… actually, are you the human?”

          Frisk nodded, “I am a human and I do wear a striped shirt. So probably yes.”

           “Damn. Well, we’re probably going to have to kill you, now.”

          Frisk’s soul appeared before their body. Frisk took out their burnt pan.

           _“Royal Guard 01- Attack 30, Defense 20. HP 150. Royal Guard member with shining, polished armor.”_

           _“Royal Guard 02- Attack 30, Defense 20. HP 150. Royal Guard member with stuffy armor.”_

           “Team attack!” The bunny guard announced.

           “Yeah,” the quiet, dragon guard agreed.

          With Flowey’s aid, Frisk jumped about to dodge the white stars that attacked. Flowey’s vines wrapped about their hand and deflected one of them.

          Frisk glanced between the two. The bunny glanced at his friend almost constantly. They recognized that look. Dogerressa gave Dogamy that same look when they battled Frisk. They hesitated and, with a bright smile, washed off a piece of the quiet guard’s armor. Its cooling dirt began to wash away.

           “Getting… warmer…” the dragon guard huffed.

           “Give us your soul already!” the bunny guard demanded. Frisk and Flowey dodged the stars again. This time, the quiet one looked a bit more uncomfortable. Sweat helped wash away more the dirt.

           “Can’t… take it… any longer. Getting… too… hot!” The dragon guard took off the chest plate of his armor. Flowey stared at him, and then Frisk, in confusion. The bunny guard started to look nervous.

          Frisk leaned toward the bunny guard and got on their tip-toes. “You should be honest with your feelings.”

           “Wh-what?” The bunny asked. This time, when they attacked, the bunny guard’s attacks twirled in odd directions.

          Frisk more easily dodged these attacks as it was really only one guard attacking.

          Finally, the bunny guard lowered his weapon. “D-dude. I can’t- I can’t take this anymore! 02. I… I really like you, man. I mean… more than just partners. The way you fight… the way you talk… the way you seem to read my mind when we fight. I love doing team attacks with you. I love standing here… with you. 02… I want to stay like this forever.” The second royal guard stared at him for a few moments. The bunny guard stammered, “Uh- uh- I mean, uh… just, uh kidding, right? Yeah! I was just–”

           “01.”

           “Yeah?”

           “Do you… want to get some Starfaits… after this?”

           “Yeah, dude! Of course!”

          The guards gazed at each other happily.

          Frisk took a step back. “I won’t bother you any longer.”

           “Oh, yeah! Well, bye little human!” The first guard waved. The second guard picked up the heated armor and walked with the bunny guard.

           “How’d you know they’d do that?” Flowey prompted.

           “They… well, the bunny guard, 01, looked really happy with him,” Frisk replied. “And he looked more to 02 than us- almost like Dogerressa and Dogamy. So, I put two-and-two together.”

           “You are good with people.”

           “Thanks!”

          Soon enough, Frisk and Flowey’s trail led into yet another dark place. Rather, it was a normal trail until something blinked above them and removed all light.

           _Briiing. Bri-_  “Hello? This is Frisk.”

           “Frisk. The lights are off,” Dr. Alphys stated. “I’m turning them on.”

          The lights turned on. Cameras glinted about the walls and ceiling. Frisk squeaked, “Dr. Alphys?”

           “…”  _Click._

           “Oh no.” Flowey shut his eyes. Mettaton, somewhere close by, was sitting in an office. His voice flowed through a receiver. “OH YES! GOOD EVENING BEAUTIES AND GENTLE BEAUTIES! THIS IS METTATON REPORTING LIVE FROM MTT NEWS! AN INTERESTING SITUATION HAS ARISEN IN HOTLAND! FORTUNATELY, OUR CORRESPONDANT IS OUT THERE, REPORTING LIVE! BRAVE CORRESPONDANT! PLEASE FIND SOMETHING NOTEWORTHY TO REPORT!”

          Frisk looked about. “Um…?”

           “There’s a basketball, a dog, a present, a cup of water, a script, and a video game. …try the video game. People love games, right? It’s in the right corner, near the edge,” Flowey instructed.

          Frisk trotted forward. Eventually, they found the black disk case. Upon picking it up, they were rewarded with Mettaton’s voice. “OH! THIS VIDEO GAME YOU’VE FOUND… IT’S DYNAMITE! THOUGH I DON’T MAKE AN APPEARANCE UNTIL THREE-FOURTHS IN. BUT THAT’S ALRIGHT! I COME IN AT THE RIGHT MOMENT, LIKE A HEAVEN-SENT CREATURE IN A TERRIBLE CRISIS! REPORT IT?”

          Frisk nodded. “Er- yes.”

           “ATTENTION, VIEWERS! OUR CORRESPONDENT HAS FOUND… A VIDEO GAME!” Mettaton announced. Frisk narrowed their eyes. Was that sarcasm in his voice? Could robots be sarcastic? “THIS ACTION PACKED GAME IS SURE TO BLOW YOU AWAY! STRANGE ENEMIES. STRANGE ALLIES. ATTRACTIVE ROBOTS! FEATURING UP TO SIX ARBITRARY DIALOGUE CHOICES AT ONCE! CORRESPONDENT! LET’S LOOK INSIE THE CASE!”

          Frisk opened it. It was literally dynamite. Frisk could only stare at it in disbelief.

           “THOSE RED CYLINDERS WITH BURNING FUSES… OH NO! THIS GAME REALLY IS DYNAMITE! I GUESS THEY WERE RIGHT! VIDEO GAMES DO CAUSE VIOLENCE! OR, AT LEAST, THIS ONE’S ABOUT TO. BUT DON’T GET TOO EXCITED. YOU HAVEN’T EVEN SEE THE FULL PICTURE!”

          Mettaton flew in. Suddenly, fuses appeared out of every item in the area.

           “OH MY! IT SEEMS EVERYTHING IN THIS AREA IS ACTUALLY A BOMB! THAT DOG’S A BOMB!” The dog’s tail burst into flames. “THAT BASKETBALL’S A BOMB!” A fuse popped out of the top of it. “THAT PRESENT IS A BOMB! THAT SCRIPT IS A BOMB! THAT GLASS OF WATER IS EVEN A BOMB! HOW DID THAT EVEN HAPPEN?! BRAVE CORRESPONDENT! IF YOU DON’T DEFUSE ALL OF THE BOMBS WITHIN TWO MINUTES, THIS LARGE BOMB WILL GO OFF AND YOU WON’T BE REPORTING LIVE ANY LONGER!” The large bomb commented upon was near the wall at the very northern end of the area. It indeed was large, being much bigger than Frisk. “HOW HORRIBLE! HOW DISTURBING! WELL, GOOD LUCK!” Mettaton vanished again.

           _Briii-_  “Hello? This is Frisk.”

          Dr. Alphys spoke, “I installed a bomb defuser on your phone. Point it at the bomb and press the button at the right time.”  _Click._

          Frisk raced about the room. The dog was very easily subdued. All they had to do was hold out their hand and command: “Sit!” Frisk pointed their phone at the dog and pressed a button labeled ‘defuse’ on the back. The basketball, which bounced about the area, wasn’t as easy to catch. Even when they pounced on it and entered the fight, it struggled about them. The script and present weren’t too difficult. The game stayed relatively easy. The hardest was the water. The reason for this wasn’t because it was difficult to diffuse. It was difficult to catch. Finally, by the twenty second mark, Flowey batted it out of the air.

           “WELL DONE, DARLING!” Mettaton yelled as the water-bomb was diffused. “YOU’VE DIFFUSED ALL OF THE BOMBS. NOW, INSTEAD OF GOING OFF IN TWO MINUTES, IT’LL GO OFF IN TWO  _SECONDS!_ ” Mettaton zipped up higher in the air, cackling and watching the terrified human and flower. Frisk nearly put their hands over their eyes. However, they stopped themselves. They straightened themselves out and glared straight up at Mettaton, lips curled back and nose wrinkled in a determined look of defiance. Mettaton stopped cackling. “OH! NOT SO WIMPY AFTER ALL, BRAVE CORRESPONDENT?”

           “If I die now, Mettaton, I’m not going down crying!” Frisk stated.

          Flowey peeked his head out of the backpack. “Why didn’t it go off?”

          Mettaton waved his hand. “OH, THE DRAMA! THE ACTION! WE CAN’T HAVE OUR CORRESPONDENT DYING, RIGHT WHEN THEY SHOW THEIR BRAVEST HEART! NO! THE SHOW MUST GO ON! TUNE IN NEXT TIME, MY WONDERFUL VIEWERS, FOR MORE ACTION! MORE DRAMA! MORE SUSPENCE! TOODLES!” The robot turned and flew off.

          Flowey looked at Frisk. “You… you really stood up to him like that?”

          Frisk turned back to Flowey with a smile. “Of course. It’s good to be nice. But being nice doesn’t equal being wimpy. You have to stand up for yourself sometimes, even if the situation looks bad. Well, let’s go. I wonder what we have next.”

          Their very long trail ended in the elevator “L-2”. This led to the third, and last, left elevator. Frisk and Flowey both looked about in interest. Cogs and smooth walls surrounded them. They passed up a spider bakesale led not by a spider, but a spider humanoid bigger than Frisk. Although they attempted to stop, the price of 9999g per donut and per cider stopped them.

          This time, they came to another maze of vents. Luckily, they didn’t have to press any buttons. All they needed to do was go to the north and south rooms, which both held the shooter puzzles. Upon going north, Flowey stated, “Alright. Activate the game. Now, go left. No, wait, right! Okay, up. Down? No, no. Try going left.” After a very frustrating minute or so, they were able to shoot down the opposing ship. After crossing the maze again, they got to a much easier puzzle. “Okay. Left. Down. Left. Left. Up. Right. Up. Right. Left. Left. Right. Now go up. Right. There! Shoot! Oh, thank God that was quick. Let’s get a move on!”

          The very next room was the right. So, they went there. The door opened, reveal a black and purple accented room. A yellow glimmer was just before the door.

           _“The smell of cobwebs permeates the vicinity. It fills you with determination.”_

          Flowey and Frisk entered the door on their right.

          Spiderwebs filled the room. Many spiders hung from the ceiling. Upon walking under one, it giggled, “Ahuhuhuhuhu… did you hear what they just said?” It retreated.

          This prompted the second to continue, “They said a human in a striped shirt will come through.” It, too, climbed up.

          The third continued, “I hear they hate spiders.”

          Frisk had to step through cobwebs to move any further.

           “I hear they love to stomp on them.”

          As they moved, cobwebs clung more insistently. Some even grew up to attach to them.

           “I heard that they liked to tear their legs off.”

          Finally, Frisk’s movements slowed until the cobwebs stopped their ability to struggle entirely. Flowey attempted to stretch away from the cobwebs but ended up getting tangled as well.

           “I heard…” Spiders crept down from all sides. The spider-humanoid monster was lifted down on a cobweb. “…that they’re awfully stingy with their money. Ahuhuhuhuhu… you think your taste is too refined for our pastries, don’t you, dearie? Ahuhuhuhu… I disagree with that notion. I think your taste… is exactly what this next batch needs!” Muffet giggled and stepped on the cobweb filled area Frisk and Flowey were trapped within. Frisk’s soul appeared before them.

           _“Muffet- Attack 38.8, Defense 18.8. HP 1250. If she invites you to her parlor, excuse yourself.”_

           “Don’t look so blue, dearie~” Muffet raised two hands and tipped the teapots she held. On two hands, she held knives. Two held teapots. One held a gun and the other a teacup. Purple washed over the cobwebs beneath them. The purple liquid immediately spread through out the spider web and onto Frisk. Their soul turned purple. They were completely trapped in the web.

           “Why are you struggling? You should be proud…” Spiders climbed the webs around them. Frisk managed to squirm about the web to avoid the spiders.

           “Proud you’ll make a delicious cake!~” A spider next to Muffet held up a sign with a spider on it.

          Spiders climbed about them. When one hit Frisk, it bit into them. Their soul cracked. Frisk recoiled with a hiss of pain. Once the spiders stop charging at them, Frisk continued to struggle. “Let us go, please!”

           “Let you go? Oh no, dearie~!” The spider next to Muffet held up a picture of a spider and a donut. “Your soul is going to make every spider very happy.” This time, spiders attack them, yes. But donuts were flung at them as well! Well, they could either be donuts or donut-shaped circles thrown at them.

          The spider held up a picture of a cupcake. “Oh how rude of me. I almost forgot to introduce you to my pet~! It’s breakfast time isn’t it? Have fun you two~!” The spider web began to shake violently and fall down. Frisk and Flowey were nearly thrown from the place they hung. Although that would have been fine thirty seconds ago, now it was not. A great monster in the shape of a cake roared at them, baring giant sharp teeth. It climbed up on the web too small for it with eight, sharp legs. Frisk scrambled to climb up the web. Unfortunately, climbing wasn’t their strong suit. It was made harder as different spiders raced down to meet the cupcake monster and attempt to throw them off. Flowey’s vines wrapped about Frisk and the web to keep them stabilized as they climbed.

          Finally, the cupcake monster stopped tearing the web down and sat down. The spider beside Muffet held a sign with a spider and a donut on it. “The person who told us about you…” Spiders raced around them along with donuts. The donuts were not soft. Upon hitting Frisk, the donuts cracked their soul further.

           “…they offered us a lot for your soul.” The spider held up a sign with a spider on it. This time, only spiders raced about the web. Flowey made sure that Frisk stayed stabilized and dodged the incoming attacks.

           “They had such a sweet smile and… ahuhu~” The spider held up a sign with a spider and a donut on it. The attack came true; indeed spiders and donuts attacked them. However, at the end, a croissant whipped through the air and came back like a boomerang.

           “It’s strange, but I swear I saw them in the shadows… changing shape?” The spider held up a sign with a croissant on it. This attack was easier, yet slightly more difficult. The croissants were slow, but came back. So, Frisk had to constantly change their place to avoid getting hit.

          The spider held up a sign with a cupcake on it. “Oh, it’s lunch time isn’t it? And I forgot to feed my pet~!” The web shuttered and the cupcake monster attacked again. Spiders raced down the trembling web to join the cupcake.

           “That is the shortest morning I’ve ever had,” Flowey stated.

          Once the cupcake was sitting on the ground, quite complacent, Muffet went on “With that money, the spider clans can finally be reunited.” The spider held up a sign with a spider on it. The spiders that attacked next were somehow much faster and much harder to dodge.

          Once the attack ended, the spider held up a sign with two donuts on it. Muffet went on, “You haven’t heard? Spiders have been trapped in the Ruins for generations!” Donuts were flung at them two at a time.

          Once the attack was over, and Frisk was wheezing for breath, Muffet went on, “And even if the spiders could fit under the door, Snowdin’s fatal cold would kill them!” The small spider held up a sign with two croissants on it. Frisk sighed in relief at the easier attack and dodged this with ease. They hardly even needed Flowey’s help for that one.

           “But with the money from your soul, we’ll afford a heated limo~!” The spider held up a sign with two spiders. Two spiders; that was too many spiders. Those that could catch Frisk bit them. Their soul cracked further.

           “And with all the leftovers…? We could have a vacation~! Or even build a spider baseball field!” The spider held up a sign with a spider, a donut, and a croissant on it. Frisk took a deep breath and pulled out the bag Papyrus had given them. It was already cool. So, the healing effects of the spaghetti was limited. They ate part of it. It healed most of the cracks in their soul.

           “But enough of that. It’s time for dinner, isn’t it? Ahuhuhu~!” The spider held up a sign with a cupcake on it. Flowey sighed in exasperation.

          The web shuttered as the cupcake grabbed the web again. Frisk yelped and bounced from place to place and scrambled to keep going higher. Every once in a while, Flowey would move them out of the way or drag them up. Eventually, the cupcake got bored again and lay down.

           “You’re still alive? Ahuhuhu~! Oh, my pet, it looks like it’s time for desert~!” A spider raced up to Muffet with a piece of paper. She sheathed a dagger and picked up the paper. “Huh? A telegram from the Ruins? Oh! You don't hate spiders! You've treated our cousins well. Oh my. I thought you were someone who hated spiders. Never mind, then. You’re free to go~! If you want, you can come back any time and I’ll wrap you up so you play with my pet again- free of charge! Ahuhuhu~ Just kidding! You can go, now.” The spider webs fell away from Frisk and Flowey.

           “Thank you!” Frisk waved and left.

          Frisk, limping as they were trying to bring feeling back into their legs, left the spider’s den and appeared in a purple-bricked hallway. Flowey shook some clinging cobwebs away. “Let’s agree to never do that again.”

          Frisk nodded. “Agreed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the water spout~


	4. Maze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A-maze-ing title, huh? Hahahahahaha... hehe... heh...
> 
> I'll show myself out, now.

          Purple bricks and purple floor was soon replaced with dark blue bricks and dark blue floor. A small castle rose up to their left with a tall staircase leading down from the first tower to the ground in which Frisk stood upon.

           “OH? THAT HUMAN…” Their attention was turned upward. Mettaton, in a pretty blue dress, peeked out from behind a corner. “COULD IT BE? MY ONE TRUE LOVE?” Mettaton lifted up the hem of his dress and descended from the tower. Upon approaching the human, he began to sing and swirl around the little place. Forcefields blocked any true escape. _“Oh my love. Please run away. Monster king… forbids your stay. Humans must… live far apart. Even if it breaks my heart. They’ll put you in the dungeon. It’ll suck and then you’ll die a lot. Really sad… you’re gunna die… cry, cry, cry… so sad it’s happening.”_ He set his hand on his chest where his heart could be and then waved his hand to Frisk and Flowey in a dramatic manner. Behind them, a star shot across the starry night that was projected on the wall. “SO SAD. SO SAD THAT YOU ARE GOING TO THE DUNGEON. WELL, TOODLES!” He whipped out a little rectangular device and pressed a button. The floor underneath Flowey and Frisk vanished.

          The two yelled in fright as they were dumped onto the hard ground below. Frisk shook their hand and stood up. Mettaton lowered himself to the ground. “OH NO. WHATEVER SHALL I DO?” Mettaton asked with a melodramatic flick of his hand on his head. “MY LOVE HAS BEEN CAST AWAY INTO THE DUNGEON. A DUNGEON WITH A PUZZLE SO DASTARDLY THAT MY PARAMOUR WILL SURELY PERISH!” They looked to the right where the puzzle lay.

           “The colored tile maze?” Flowey hissed in shock. He narrowed his eyes and began mapping it out.

           “O, HEAVENS HAVE MERCY! THE HORRIBLE COLORED TILE MAZE! EACH COLOR TILE HAS ITS OWN SADISTIC FUNCTION. FOR EXAMPLE, A GREEN TILE SOUNDS A NOISE THAT ATTRACTS A MONSTER YOU HAVE TO FIGHT! RED TILES WILL… ACTUALLY, HAVEN’T WE SEEN THIS PUZZLE BEFORE?” Mettaton paused for a moment. “YES WE HAVE! YOU REMEMBER THE RULES, RIGHT? GREAT… THEN I WON’T WASTE MY TIME REPEATING THEM! OH, AND IF YOU DON’T COMPLETE THIS PUZZLE IN 30 SECONDS, YOU’LL BE BURNED TO DEATH BY THIS FIRE WALL!”

          Frisk looked back. A wall of fire appeared behind them.

          Mettaton laughed, “OH NO! I’M SO RAKED WITH GRIEF THAT I CANNOT STOP LAUGHING! GOOD LUCK, DARLING!” A timer dropped from floor of the area from which they had been ejected.

           “Okay. I got it. Follow my lead!” Flowey hissed. “Once he says go… go!” Mettaton sang in the background. Neither Frisk nor Flowey payed attention to him. Frisk landed on the first tile- pink. “Okay, up one. Go right three more. Down one. Through the water. Down one, right six. Up three, follow the water. Down two more. Right two more. Up one, right three. Right one. Down one, into the water. Right two more. Up two more, right one, down three. Right three. Up three. Ow! Okay, down three. Right three. Up two more, right four- right into water. Down three. Now follow the green tiles.” Frisk walked as fast as they could without tripping. Each tile made a noise, though from all the noise around them, Frisk could not detect what it was.

           “CONGRATULATIONS!” Mettaton cried. “YOU MADE IT THROUGH THE PUZZLE! AND NOW, WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, THE FLAMES WILL BE DEACTIVATED!” The flames died immediately. “NO MORE FIRE! BUT IT’S AS THE PHRASE GOES: ‘OUT OF FIRE AND INTO THE FRYING PAN.’ SINCE YOU COMPLETED THE PUZZLE, I DEACTIVATED THE FLAMES. BUT YOU STEPPED ON GREEN TILES. NOW YOU’LL HAVE TO FIGHT A MONSTER. AND THAT MONSTER IS ME!” Mettaton descended from the air and hit the ground in front of them. Mettaton attacks!

          Frisk’s cracked soul appeared before them. “Um… I don’t know about this Flowey.”

          _“Mettaton- Attack 30, Defense 9999. HP ??? His metal body still renders him invulnerable to attack.”_

           “THIS IS IT, DARLING! TIME TO SAY GOODBYE!” Mettaton trilled. _Briiing!_ “IS THAT YOUR PHONE, DARLING? YOU BETTER ANSWER IT!”

          Frisk picked up their phone. Dr. Alphys’ voice came through the receiver. “He’s tricking you. There’s one last thing I installed- a yellow monster heart shaped button. Press it.” _Click._

          Frisk pressed the upside down yellow heart on the back of their phone. At first, nothing happened. Mettaton cackled, “IS THAT ALL YOU GOT, SWEET-HEART?” Then, it changed. Their cracked heart soul rotated so that it was upside down. It flashed in gold light. Frisk touched their hand to it. A tiny yellow bullet shot from the bottom of their heart to Mettaton.

          Mettaton shuttered. “OH. OOOOOOOOH! OH NO! YOU’VE DEFEATED ME!” Mettaton waved his hands in a grand manner. “OH NO! HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN TO ME! YOU WERE STRONGER THAN I THOUGHT!” Mettaton lowered his hands and looked to the ground. The cameras ticked off. Mettaton straightened up and flew away. “WELL, TOODLES!”

          Flowey stared at him as he left. “…that is literally the strangest fight I’ve ever been in.”

          Frisk’s soul righted itself, turned red, and absorbed back into their body. “Yes. You have that right. Oh! Stairs!” They trotted to the stairs across from the puzzle and climbed them. There, they ended up on a platform that led back to Muffet’s web. Frisk turned and strolled down to the right.

           “Er, there are stairs up there,” Flowey pointed out.

           “Yeah,” Frisk agreed. “But what is- oh! Just an elevator. See, Flowey? If we ever need to go back, we can just use the elevator!”

          Flowey nodded. “Ok, okay. I admit: that’s a good one. Now let’s go see what’s up those stairs. Something good, I hope.”

          Frisk ascended the stairs. Before them was a street of blue tile with a blue restaurant before them. Sans leaned on the wall leading to the entrance. When his dark eyes found Frisk, he waved and stood up straight. “hey, kid!”

          Frisk perked up and trotted to the small skeleton. “Hello!”

           “you’ve been busy, huh?” Sans prompted. “funny how you solved that puzzle so quick. well, you only had thirty seconds. so, you’re going to the core, right? let’s have a bit of dinner.”

           “Oh. Sure!”

           “good to hear. hey, come with me. i have a shortcut.” Sans turned and trotted around the back of the building. Frisk perked up and followed him. Flowey narrowed his eyes. They were very soon inside the fancy restaurant and at their table. “so. here we are. nearly at the end. you must really want to go home, huh? i know the feeling, kid. sometimes, it’s better to take what’s given to you,” Sans pointed out.

           “Of course!” Frisk purred. “I’m very grateful of what has been given to me.”

          Sans huffed, though his smile didn’t waver. Did his smile ever change? “down here… well, you’ve got nice food. good puzzles. nice adventures. you’ve even gotten yourself a friend or two. so, why do you persist? you’re dead if you enter that kingdom, kid. at least with my boss and his boss, heh, you have a chance. albeit an odd chance with an odd life living with the captain of the guard or her most trusted. ah, forget it. i, ah, believe you won’t die too quick. maybe even, ah, make it to the end.” He shut his eyes and chuckled. “but, ah, i should tell you something. what with you being honest an’ all. well, i’m a sentry in snowdin, as you know. the ruins are a closed off place. so i naturally assume its empty, right? well… one day, i get to practicing some knock-knock jokes on that door since the boss nearly killed me for botherin’ him at home. so i knocking ‘em out as usual. then, one time, i knocked on the door and a voice answered. ‘who’s there?’ so i answered ‘dishes’. ‘dishes who?’ ‘dishes a bad joke.’ for some reason, she just burst into laughter.”

          Frisk smiled and laughed. Sans smirked. “yeah. like that. she had the greatest sense of humor. she even cracked her own jokes. i haven’t met a person like her in a long time. well, one day, she wasn’t laughin’ too much. in fact, she wasn’t laughin’ at all. now, i’m pretty used to it. not too many laugh or take jokes. for some reason, though, it felt weird not hearin’ her laugh. so i asked what was botherin’ her. there was someone there, she said. a kid and a little trickster. kid was weak- blind, weak, not physically capable of defense. but they had a trickster, a little weed. she was afraid the little flower would lead them astray. so she told me that if a human kid left the ruins with a small golden flower… well… kid, if she hadn’t said that…” The light vanished from Sans’ eyes. “Y o u ’ d   d e a d   y o u   s t a n d.”

          Frisk’s eyes grew round in shock. Flowey hid in Frisk’s backpack. The skeleton chuckled. The scarlet circles of light appeared in his eyes again. “so serious, eh? suffice to say, you aren’t dead. neither is your little flower. heh. well, see you later. try not to die too quickly, okay?” With that, the skeleton strolled away. He vanished into thin air.

          Flowey poked his head out of their backpack. “H-he’s gone? Okay. I don’t know if I believe him.”

          Frisk shook their head. “No. I trust him. He really didn’t kill us, or even try to, right?”

          Flowey sighed. “If you say so. Well… let’s see if we can get a move on.”

          Frisk walked around the table and out of the small restaurant. They ended up in a hotel with a water fountain in the shape of Mettaton in the center. A golden sparkle was nearby.

          _“Knowing that you will soon be entering the Core and ending your journey, it fills you with determination.”_

          A sphynx, dragon, and an odd hooded ghost crowded around the elevator. “It isn’t working!” “Ugh. When are they going to fix it?” “I need to get home!”

          Frisk passed them up and walked out of the door at the end. It led onto a dazzling porch where a wooden bridge connected it to the entrance to the Core. Frisk took a deep breath. “Ready, Flowey?”

           “I-I hope so.”

           “Well good! It’s healthy to be a bit afraid. But I won’t let anything happen to you,” Frisk assured him and walked down the wooden bridge which faded into an electronic one. The shadows flitted out of sight. The room they entered had an elevator that was not working. Two paths branched out- one going to the left and up and one going to the right and up. The right side room ended in a pit. Upon entering the left side, they got a long hallway.

          Frisk’s soul pattered and glowed before them. Ahead of them was a small jester with two fiery orbs floating beside it. Madjick pops out of his hat!

          _“Madjick- Attack 29, Defense 24. HP 190. This trickster magician speaks only in magic words.”_

           “Abra cadabra!” One of its orbs flashed just above Frisk. Little crosses shot out of it. Frisk jumped back. The orb materialized behind them. After a few more tries, the orb went back to Madjick.

          Frisk attempted to talk, but was cut off by rapid muttering as Madjick ignored them. Frisk closed their mouth. Satisfied, the magician gave them a smug smirk. Frisk shook their head, now thoroughly dizzy. “Alakazam!” The magician cried. The corner orb attacked. Frisk commanded themselves to move forward to get out of range, but somehow stumbled back- right into one of the crosses.

           “What are you doing?” Flowey hissed. One of his vines wrapped around their ankle to keep them from falling into another attack.

           “I’m d-dizzy!” Frisk put a hand to their head. “What just happened?”

          Flowey looked up at Madjick. The magician was no longer paying attention to them. “Well, bye!” Flowey got a long, cool stare from the magician before it zipped away. “Are you okay?”

           “Yeah. Let me sit down.” Frisk knelt, patted the ground, and then sat down. The floor was quite hard as it was made of metal and it radiated with energy. Soon enough, the dizziness went away. “Whatever that guy did, it was effective.” Frisk chuckled and got up.

           “Yeah. Let’s hope we don’t run into _him_ again,” the flower agreed.

          “No kidding!” Frisk chuckled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Frustration hits the elevator!


	5. Hotel Underground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The CORE was fun, right?

          Flowey looked about. “What’s next?”

           “Hopefully not more dizzy-magic.” Frisk got up and trotted down the corridor. A forcefield separated the little room they entered from the hallway to the right. A little button was on the wall. When Frisk clicked it, three lasers raced from the other side of the glass-floor hallway. All three came in a colored order- blue, blue, orange. Frisk stood stock-still as the first two passed over them and then trotted through the third. “Easy!” Frisk chirruped.

           “Please don’t jinx us,” Flowey groaned and set his head on their shoulder.

           “I’ll try not to.” Upon entering another hall, they encountered a crossroads. The one that ended up going north headed to a room. So, Frisk took that one. As soon as they entered the room, their soul appeared before them. A large, metal-clad figure knelt before them, one hand on her giant, intricate spear and the other on her knee. Two eyes looked back and forth on her chest armor. Just below was a beak. Was her armor alive? Knight Knight blocks the way!

          _“Knight Knight- Attack 36, Defense 36. HP 2030. This megaton mercenary wields a morning star.”_

           “Good night.” The mercenary stamped her morningstar. A white moon appeared before Frisk. Small fists, or stars perhaps, rained from the sky. Flowey yelped instructions to Frisk. When they didn’t act fast enough, Flowey would snap his vines around their feet and move them himself. When the attack ended, Flowey let go of Frisk.

          Frisk brushed themselves off and looked up at the armored mercenary. Their head was bowed and movements slow. They seemed sleepy… Frisk took a deep breath and began to sing Shyren’s song.

          The mercenary bowed her head further. “Quiet.” The moon appeared again as did the raining attack. Flowey still had to aid Frisk. When he did, neither of them got hurt.

          Frisk turned to Knight Knight again and continued singing the sweet, if sad, song. Knight Knight stopped moving altogether. Her murmurs turned into quiet snores. Frisk quietly stepped away.

          They backed off and went to the right. This time, they encountered a long, thin trail alive with lasers. Although the ones that were close were fine–they were simply moving blue lasers and stationary orange ones–they changed later on until it was one big wall of blue lasers. Frisk huffed, “How are we supposed to get through _that?”_

          _Briiiing. Brii-_ “Hello? This is Frisk.”

          Dr. Alphys stated, “This puzzle is impossible. As I cannot turn off the lasers, I will be turning off power to this section. When the lasers turn off, move as quickly as you can to the other side. The power turns itself back on after a short period of time for safety reasons. If you are not at the other side by the time the lasers turn on, stop and wait for me to turn them back off.” _Click._

          The lasers, and lights, turned off. Frisk darted across. The lights flickered, which caused them to stop. The blue lasers turned on again. However, they didn’t hurt Frisk as they were standing still. The power turned off. Frisk kept going and stopped only when the power turned itself back on. The power had to turn once more before Frisk made it to the other side unscathed. “Yay! Got through that no problem.” Frisk puffed out their chest. “I’m glad Dr. Alphys is helping us. She seems really smart.”

          Flowey didn’t comment.

          Then, they entered a maze of hallways. A yellow glimmer sparkled before them. Frisk smiled and touched it.

          _“The smell of ozone permeates the vicinity. You are filled with determination.”_

           “Well this is nice,” Flowey sighed. “Let’s try going straight through, first. Look down the corridors as you go to see if you can find anything useful.”

           “You got it, Captain!” Frisk trotted down the corridor. The hallways were empty for the most part. At the very end, the hallway ended. A thin metal pathway led to the right. Upon moving a few feet through it, they were interrupted. Froggit jumped onto the path before them and Whimsum fluttered forth. No. No, they were not Whimsum and Froggit. Final Froggit was spikier and larger. His eyes train on theirs with a focus that Froggit could not possibly possess. Whimsalot was dressed in a suit of armor with a double-ended spear in their hand.

          _“Whimsalot- Attack 34, Defense 12. HP 95. They finally stopped worrying.”_

          _“Final Froggit- Attack 30, Defense 24. HP 100. It’s future looks brighter and brighter.”_

          Whimsalot shuttered and shimmered. Final Froggit croaked. Butterflies fluttered forth. Flies swooped down upon them. Flowey took direct control of Frisk’s movement. Even then, flies and butterflies still cracked their soul.

          Frisk, wheezing, fell to their knees. “Please, Whimsalot. Show to me mercy I tried showing you.”

          Whimsalot put a hand to their mouth. “Don’t give up, human!” Butterflies fluttered around them as well as flies. However, a few butterflies were green. Their fingers brushed against them. A few cracks began to heal in Frisk’s soul.

          Frisk clambered unsteadily to their feet. Whimsalot lowered their spear and fluttered off. Final Froggit croaked again and lunged at them. Frisk bounded out of the way every time the creature charged at them. Finally, the creature stopped before them, ending its attack. Frisk thought for a moment and then whispered, “Okay, follow me. Produce those pellet things when I open my hands, okay?”

           “Er- okay?”

          Frisk put their hands in front of them and then waved them before Final Froggit. The creature’s eyes grew round as it watched pellets flutter like dust from their hands and vanish. It stared and them and then stood up straight, recognizing that it needs to learn more about this world. Frisk waved at them. Final Froggit hopped off.

          Frisk, smiling, continued on their way. Madjick materialized before them with a cackle. Knight Knight emerged from the shadows and knelt before them. Mercenaries emerged from the shadows!

          Frisk glanced between the two and began to sing a sweet song. Knight Knight bowed their head. Flowey wrapped his vines around Frisk’s ankles to guide their movement again and help them dodge the stars and the crosses that flew at them. Once the attack stopped, Frisk sang again. Knight Knight fell asleep.

          Madjick glanced at Knight Knight and then cackled, “Alakazam!” An orb chased the duo, leaving crosses hanging in its path. Once the attack was over, the orb returned to Madjick.

           “Madjick, if you would-” Frisk started but was interrupted by the same dizzying spell the first magician had used. Frisk took a sharp breath and attempted to stumble out of the way of incoming attacks. Flowey made it easier, and possible, to stay on the trail. Once the attack was over, Madjick vanished.

          Frisk took a deep breath and sat down. “Ugh. I hate that attack.”

           “Me, too,” Flowey agreed. “Oh! But there’s another room at the end of this!”

          Frisk perked up. “Oh? I wonder what it has!” They got up and trotted forward. They were blocked by, hopefully, the last group of mercenaries. Final Froggit hopped close. Whimsalot fluttered forth. Astigmatism stalked forward. What a nightmare!

          _“Astigmatism- Attack 32, Defense 26. HP 120. This relentless bully ALWAYS gets his way.”_

           “Robbit, Robbit,” Final Froggit croaked.

           “…Don’t pick on me,” Astigmatism stated.

           “I’ve made my choice,” Whimsalot breathed.

Flowey’s eyes grew round as butterflies fluttered in a circle around them, flies dove at them, and empty circles were summoned and shot at them. “Are we in hell?”

          Frisk yelped as a fly nearly buzzed through them. “No! …I don’t think so, anyway.”

          When the attacks finally stopped, Frisk stood up straight. They glanced at Final Froggit and opened their hands. Flowey got a few of his pellets ready. Frisk waved their hands and ‘summoned’ the pellets. The Final Froggit croaked in awe. It hesitated, and then hopped away.

           “Take your last look,” Astigmatism declared. Whimsalot fluttered its wings more quickly to give off a shimmer around it.

          This time, butterflies surrounded them and circles zoomed toward them. No flies attacked.

           “Wh-whimsalot,” Frisk declared, “Please… we don’t need to fight. I-if we fight any longer, we will hurt each other!”

          Whimsalot hesitated and then flipped its staff. “Stay strong, human.” Butterflies fluttered about them. Two were green. However, Astigmatism wasn’t so caring. With a hiss, he summoned a large bubble connected to a smaller bubble which was connected to a slightly smaller bubble and sent it spinning toward them. Frisk waved their hand through the two green butterflies and dodged the large, slow attacks.

          Whimsalot fluttered away.

          Astigmatism stayed silent and he threw his larger attack at them. Once the attack ended, Flowey prompted, “What do we do with him?”

           “He always gets his way,” Frisk answered. “He told us not to pick on him. So we say something nice!” They turned to Astigmatism. “You have really cool horns!”

          Astigmatism smiled. “Finally! Someone gets it!” Although Astigmatism attacked, the little bubbles were slower and weren’t as bad as his previous attacks.

          Frisk waved good-bye and trotted off the trail and onto the small room. There was a glowing button. When they flicked it on… nothing happened. Flowey huffed, “Well that was a waste of time!”

           “Maybe it’s like that spike-puzzle in Snowdin,” Frisk commented, “and we just solved it before seeing the instructions.”

           “Hopefully,” Flowey sighed. “Those battles were tough. Let’s save before we have to fight them again.”

           “Good idea.”

          After wandering around for a while, and touching the save point, they stumbled upon a room with a singular trash can in the center. Flowey look inside of it. “Did someone… drop coin in here?”

          Frisk picked up the bag of coin. “Yeah! …it says there’s a hundred in here. Oh no! What if someone dropped it?”

           “In the trash?” Flowey prompted.

           “Well… yes…” the young human answered.

           “Let’s concentrate on leaving, okay?” Flowey prompted. “We could really use the money, anyway.”

           “Yeah, okay. I hope no one is missing this,” Frisk mumbled and continued wandering around. They didn’t have to go far to find a bridge leading to another room. White fog twisted around the ground below with large glowing orbs upon pedestals below it. The room at the very end held a save point, an elevator, and an extremely fancy doorway without a door.

          _“Behind this door must be the elevator to the king’s elevator. Knowing that you will soon meet the king fills you with determination.”_

          Flowey piped up, “Fancy door. There must be a few monsters behind there. You’re out of healing items. Well, except for that emotionally damaged quiche.”

           “I’m not eating the abandoned quiche,” Frisk stated. “But I do have a hot cat!”

           “…yeah. We also have a hundred and twenty g. There was a burger place in the hotel; let’s see if the elevator can take us there,” Flowey prompted.

           “Oh. Right! Food items! That’s a smart idea.” Frisk trotted to the elevator. It had only two buttons: “up” and “down.” The up button was dim, but the down button glowed. So, they pressed the glowing white button. The doors closed. Within seconds, they opened again. They were back in the room with a pathway straight to the hotel. Frisk bounded down the trail and to the burger joint right next to the exit.

          Upon entering, the cat behind the counter stated, “Welcome to MTT-Brand Burger Emporium, home of the Glamburger. Sparkle up your day™! What can I do for you, little buddy?”

          Flowey looked at the menu over the cat’s shoulder. “Starfaits are 60g. Glamburgers are 120g. Legendary Heroes are 300 g. The Steak in the Shape of Mettaton’s face is 500g. Wow. How much more vain can you get than that? Okay, so we have 127g. You can either get two Starfaits or one Glamburger. The Glamburger heals more, but there’s only one of them.”

           “What are they?” Frisk prompted.

           “Eh, the Starfait is an ice cream drink, right? Yeah. And the Glamburger is a hamburger… made of glitter?”

          The young human took out their entire pocket of gold, save for seven of the coins, and presented it to the teenage worker. “Two Starfaits, please.”

           “Thanksy! Have a fabu-ful day!” the cat chirped, took the gold, and gave to Frisk two glittery, rainbow smoothies. Although the cat put on a wide smile, they could see his boredom.

           “Er- hello! You look bored.”

          The cat’s ears flicked forward. “Huh? I’m sorry,” the cat chuckled, “it’s against the rules to talk to customers who haven’t bought anything.”

           “But we bought the Starfaits,” Frisk pointed out.

          The cat flicked his ear. “What? Why do you keep trying to talk to me? I'll get in trouble if I get chummy with the customers. Sorry… SO, I wanted to be an ACTOR.”

          Frisk chuckled. “That’s so cool!” You know, I want to be a dancer.”

          The cat smirked. “I'm getting on in years, so let me give you some advice, little buddy. You've still got time. Don't live like me. I'm 19 years old and I've already wasted my entire life.” He shook his head with a morose frown.

          Flowey tipped his head. “Burgerpants?”

           “Huh?” Frisk glanced back at him and then looked to the cat. “Is that you name?”

          The cat shook his head. “Oh no, little buddy. That’s not my name. But it’s a real story.”

           “What’s the story?” Frisk gasped, their smile returning in earnest.

          Burgerpants shook his head. “So, I went out to the alley to see those two ladies, and uh... you know, see what'd happen next… Then my boss, uh, saw me and asked me what I was doing. I was so startled, the hamburgers in my pockets tumbled out onto the ground. Not wanting to lose face, I scrambled to pick them up! But, as I was leaning over, the weight of the remaining hamburgers…” he sighed, “… caused my pants to fall down. Then the girls laughed at me. Everyone calls me Burgerpants now. But, hey! You won’t call me that, huh?”

          Frisk shook their head. “No! Not if you don’t like the name.” Frish hesitated. “Does MTT stand for Mettaton? You work for Mettaton?”

          The cat chuckled. “When I first came to Hotland, it was my dream to work with Mettaton.” He paused for a moment. “Well, be careful what you wish for, little buddy!”

          Frisk tipped their head. “Why is Mettaton bad?”

           “God, have you even looked around? This place is a labyrinth of bad choices,” he huffed. “And every time we try to change something for the better, he vetoes it and says ‘that's not how they do it on the surface.’ Oh! Right! Humans are always eating hamburgers made of SEQUINS AND GLUE.” Burgerpants rolled his eyes. After a breath, he continued his rant, “Why do people find him so attractive? He's literally just a freaking rectangle.” Burgerpants hesitation. “You know, one time, I bought one of those, uh, kits online… to… uh, make yourself more rectangular. …They don't work.”

          Frisk thought for a moment. “What do you think you’ll do in the future?”

           “Future?” he scoffed. “WHAT future? Nothing down here ever changes. I’ll probably be trapped at this stupid job forever. …but wait! There's one thing that keeps me going!” His eyes brightened. “If King Asgore gets just one more soul, we'll finally get to go to the surface! It’ll be a brand new world! There’s gotta be a second chance out there for me! For everyone! So, stay strong, little buddy. When I make it big, I'll keep you in mind.”

          Frisk puffed out their chest. “I’ll make sure that everyone goes free! Bye!”

          The cat’s smile widened. “Have a sparkular day!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Burgerpants! You didn't think I'd leave HIM out, did ya? ;D


	6. Lights, Camera, Action!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Weeeee! Boss fight! ...it is a fight, right?

          Frisk trotted out of the burger joint and put the two smoothies in their bag. Flowey looked back at the store. “Well that was… something. Let’s keep going. Save before you go through that door, though,” Flowey warned.

          Frisk nodded. “Okay. I will.” The elevator took them straight to the flashy door and the save point.

          _“Behind this door must be the elevator to the king’s elevator. Knowing that you will soon meet the king fills you with determination.”_

          Frisk stepped through the door and into the room. It was dark with neon lights surrounding the stage. Mettaton stood in the center. “OH YES! DARLING, YOU’VE MADE IT! I GUESS IT’S TIME TO FINALLY HAVE OUR SHOWDOWN!”

          Frisk puffed up their chest. “We’re ready when you are!”

          Mettaton laughed and waved his for hands. “YEAH. _RIGHT._ YOU DIDN’T THINK THAT THIS WAS REAL, DID YOU? THAT THIS ‘ACT’ WAS A REAL STRUGGLE? DR. ALPHYS HAS BEEN PLAYING YOU FOR A FOOL THIS ENTIRE TIME, YOU KNOW. SHE’S JUST PRETENDING TO HELP YOU. SHE’S JUST PRETENDING TO GUIDE YOU. DO YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU GET PAST ME AND GET TO THE KING? YOU BECOME HER TEST SUBJECT, OF COURSE! AS YOU ARE THE LAST SOUL, AND DEATH DUE YOU PART WITH YOUR SOUL, WHAT COULD GO WRONG WITH A FEW FINAL TESTS? BUT FRANKLY, I DON’T LIKE THAT. THERE’S NO GLAMMER TO IT, NO SHOW! NO CLASS! SO, NOW THIS IS OUR FINEST HOUR, YOUNG HUMAN. TO BE HONEST, I FEEL NO DESIRE TO ACTUALLY _KILL_ PEOPLE- HUMANS OR MONSTERS. AFTER ALL, IF EVERYONE IS DEAD, WHO WILL WATCH MY SHOWS? IT SO HAPPENS THAT I WANT HUMANS AS MY AUDIENCE AS WELL, TO SPREAD MY STARDOM TO THE WORLD! BUT IN ORDER TO DO THAT, I MUST BE ABLE TO CROSS THE BARRIER. I CAN ONLY DO THAT WITH THE SOUL OF A HUMAN.”

          The lights behind them shut off as the door was locked and the path to the stage lowered. There was no going back, now. Frisk looked back and then turned to Mettaton. “I admire that, Mettaton! I think that you would make a great star out in the human world! But honestly, you’re going about it the wrong way. You need everyone’s help to do that- including people like Dr. Alphys and the king. If you kill me and steal my soul, who would end up having your back?”

          Mettaton cackled, “PLENTY OF PEOPLE. HUMAN, I’VE BEEN WATCHING YOU FOR A WHILE NOW. YOUR SONG AND DANCE WON’T WORK ON ME.” Mettaton raised his voice and waved his arms in a grand gesture. Cameras turned on all around. People flooded into the theater around them. “SORRY, FLOCKS, BUT THE OLD PROGRAM HAS BEEN CANCELED. BUT DON’T WORRY, I HAVE A FINALE THAT WILL DRIVE YOU _WILD!”_ Spotlights turned on and floor glowed in multiple places. “REAL DRAMA! REAL ACTION! REAL BLOODSHED! ON OUR NEW SHOW… ‘ATTACK OF THE KILLER ROBOT!’”

          Frisk’s soul, yellow and upside down, appeared before them. Screens surrounded them.

          _“Mettaton- Attack 30, Defense 255. HP ??? Seriously, his metal exterior still renders him invulnerable to attack.”_

          Metaton purred, “IF YOU MUST KNOW, I RIGGED THE CORE AND HIRED EVERYONE TO KILL YOU. BUT TO BE HONEST, THAT WAS A SHORT-SIGHTED PLAN. WHY WOULD I WANT YOU TO DIE IN THE CORE, WHEN YOU COULD DIE BY ME ON SHOW? OH, AND THAT WORTHLESS PEA-SHOOTER DR. ALPHYS GAVE YOU WON’T WORK ON ME, SWEET-HEART. GUESS YOU’LL HAVE TO FIND ANOTHER WAY TO FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE. OH, HOW EXCITING! HOW DRAMATIC! THE HUMAN AND THEIR LITTLE PET STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE AN ATTACK BY AN UNSTOPPABLE FORCE!”

           “U-um, we don’t have to fight, Mettaton,” Frisk pointed out. “P-plus, isn’t death or harming actors technically illegal? Um, somewhere at least?”

          The robot chuckled, “OH DARLING, PLEASE. I’VE SEEN YOU FIGHT. YOU’RE PATHETIC. EVEN IF I WAS TO SPARE YOU, YOU WOULDN’T LAST HALF A MINUTE AGAINST OUR KING!” Boxes dropped from the sky. Frisk pointed up at them and shot. They dissipated when the bullets hit them.

          _Briiing. Brii-_ “H-hello? This is Frisk. I’m a bit busy right now.”

           “I know,” Dr. Alphys stated. “Turn Mettaton around. There’s a switch on his back. Press it.” _Click._

          Frisk hesitated and then turned to Flowey. “Um… I don’t…?”

          Flowey piped up, “Hey! Looks like you got something on your screen there, buddy. Is that box debris? There’s a mirror behind you.”

           “IS THERE?” Mettaton whipped around. “WHERE IS IT? I CAN’T SEE-” Flowey’s vine snapped at the switch. It flicked on. Mettaton froze. “DID YOU. JUST FLIP. MY SWITCH?” Mettaton’s screen flashed in a bizarre pattern of lights. He put two hands to his head and shuttered violently. A bright white light flashed. Frisk took a step back and put an arm over their eyes. Flowey hid in their backpack. When the light dimmed, Frisk opened their eyes. Fog rolled over the stage. Two stage lights flicked on. A humanoid shape stood in the fog though it had four arms instead of two.

           “Ohhhh my…” Mettaton purred. His voice was smoother and less electronic. “If you flipped my switch, that can only mean one thing. You’re desperate for the premier of my new body. How rude. Luckily, I’ve been aching to show this off for a while. So… as thanks, I’ll give you a handsome reward. I’ll make your last living moments…” The fog dissipated and all of the stage lights turned on. “ABSOLUTELY beautiful!” Mettaton twirled and showed off his new body. Black and red worked together on top of gray metal. He shined in the light. Even his black hair glimmered in metallic light. His waist held a large box with a floating pink heart in it. His arms stayed relatively the same, though they now looked more humanoid.

          Frisk looked about. People cheered and whooped around them. A screen nearby showed statics of the ratings thus far. They were pretty low. Frisk looked about and then at Mettaton. People cheered him on. He spun around and posed. Frisk smiled and copied him. Roars and nods rewarded them. Frisk and Flowey looked over the crowd. Some people they recognized were there. Shyren… Napstablook… Monster Kid… Papyrus! Sans! Captain Undyne! All three of them stood next to each other.

          Frisk turned back to Mettaton and dodged a hard kick. Mettaton’s six inch heels slammed on the ground near them. Frisk dodged and danced out of the way. Flowey corrected their movements occasionally, but otherwise just gave encouragement. “Yeah! You’re doing great!” As they performed, the rating climbed.

           “LIGHTS! CAMERA! BLOODSHED!” Mettaton cried and waved his hand. Small box-Mettatons flanked by bombs rained down. Frisk dodged a few of them, though they pointed their soul at another few. They were disintegrated.

           “Whoa! Look out!” Flowey yanked their foot back. Frisk, determined to keep their balance, jumped back. A heart escaped each Mettaton and flowed past them before they dissipated.

           “Darling, I’m the star that everyone craves!” Mettaton crowd and lashed out at them. Frisk managed to dodge, only to run face-first into his next attack. They were thrown back with a hard kick from his metal leg. Injured, they clambered to their feet and shook themselves. They didn’t have very many healing items. Instead, Frisk struck a pose, just as Mettaton did. Roars of approval met them. Another hit by one of Mettaton’s attacks, however, caused them to nearly fall over. Cracks formed over their soul. Any second, it could break. Frisk took out one of the starfaits and downed it in seconds. Their injuries were gone. Whoops and cheers met them. The audience loves the brand.

          Frisk danced back with a playful giggle as Mettaton struck at them. After the third time they were evaded, Mettaton crowed, “Well time for our regularly scheduled break!” Frisk took a deep breath and straightened out.

           “Frisk, be careful,” Flowey urged.

           “I will. This is so much fun!” Frisk chirped and bounced on their heels.

           “Well, you’ve certainly shown your heart,” Mettaton purred. “Why don’t I show you mine?” The glass box on his waist opened. The pink heart floated above them. Electricity buzzed and burst out in all directions. Frisk dodged and shot at the heart at every opportunity. Quite suddenly- _CRASH!_

          Two of Mettaton’s arms, one holding a mic and the other one an actual canon, dropped to the ground. Mettaton huffed and smiled, “It’ll take a bit more than that to take me down! Come on, Darling, let’s dance!” He waved his remaining hands. A disco ball appeared. Lasers, some white, and some blue, burst from it. Frisk danced away from the white lasers that soared toward them and stood still in the blue ones. Flowey ducked his head on occasion and eventually just hid in the backpack.

          By the time the attack was over, Frisk was beginning to become tired. Then again, one whack from Mettaton’s mechanical foot that send them sprawling on the other side of the stage got rid of their exhaustion. Gasps rippled through the crowd. Frisk, wincing, got up on one elbow. Blood dribbled down the side of their face. They couldn’t summon the energy to stand up. Mettaton, eyes bright and an excited smile lighting up his face, watched the struggling human.

          Their elbow brushed something small and pointed. Frisk shakily put a hand on the ground and gripped the little thing. A blue spear clinging to a metal wire necklace was held in their palm. _“When faced with a problem, WORK AROUND IT! Draw your power from your SOUL! Through sheer determination you will defeat your enemies!”_ Captain Undyne’s advice shot through their mind. Frisk wiped the blood off their forehead and scrambled to their feet. They side-stepped a hard kick from Mettaton and darted around to get behind him. His canon hand blasted the ground they attempted to stand on. This caused them to stagger to the side to avoid being shot. They tripped and fell back. Flowey wrapped his vines around them. Their fall turned into a roll with a passive pose. The audience cheered as, despite their terrible injuries, and the fall, they still preformed well.

          Ratings were starting to sky rocket.

          Mettaton waved his arms. “We’ve grown so distant, Darling. Why not a heart-to-heart?” The glass box that held his heart flew back up into the air. Empty boxes materialized around it. Frisk struggled to dodge the lightning bolts sent at them while, at the same time, shooting at the heart. Flowey wrapped his vines around their wrist pointed them in the right direction each time they strayed.

          _CRASH!_ Mettaton’s other pair of arms clattered to the ground.

           “A-arms?” Mettaton huffed. “Who needs arms with legs like _these?”_

          Frisk laughed and dodged the next bombs and boxes sent at them. Mettaton danced and posed, somehow looking dramatic without his arms. Boxes and bombs bombarded them. Frisk dodged or shot down most of it. However, they couldn’t dodge it all, even with Flowey’s help. A box tore through their soul, nearly shattering it. Frisk fell to one knee, clutching their chest.

          Flowey looked up and pulled Frisk back to their feet. The young human staggered to their feet and copied Mettaton’s pose again. The audience gasped. They wiped the blood off their face so that it didn’t get in their eye or mouth. Mettaton cooed, “Oh, Darling, why do you keep fighting? Do you really believe in yourself that much? Haha… well, this is your last turn. So why not make it absolutely _fabulous!?”_ His heart flew out of his chest and danced around. Two bombs protected it. Lightning flashed out. Frisk managed to dodge and, with Flowey’s help, shoot his heart. Mettaton struck at them with his legs and bounded back to avoid being shot as well. However, he couldn’t last for much longer. His heart shuttered and retreated. Mettaton’s legs fell off and he clattered to the floor.

          Frisk gasped and raced to his side. “Oh! Are you alright?”

           “HAHA, DARLING… OH! LOOK AT THOSE RATINGS!” Mettaton gasped and looked up at the board. The ratings chart read over ten thousand. “THIS IS THE MOST VIEWERS I’VE EVER HAD! WE’VE REACHED THE CALL-IN MILESTONE, EVERYONE! SO, ONE LUCKY PERSON GETS TO TALK TO ME, METTATON, BEFORE I LEAVE THE UNDERGROUND FOREVER! LET’S SEE WHO CALLS IN FIRST!”

          Flowey breathed, “How does he expect to do that?”

          The speaker on Mettaton’s chest rang. “HI! YOU’RE ON TV! WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO SAY ON OUR LAST SHOW?”

           “oh…” a very familiar voice sounded through the receiver. “hi, mettaton… you’re… leaving forever… i really liked watching your show… it brought excitement to my life… vicariously… my life is pretty boring, after all… i’ll miss you, mettaton…”

           “NO! WAIT! WAIT, BL… THEY HUNG UP.” Mettaton’s smile began to fade in the sadness they soon felt. He shook himself and put on a grand smile. “I’LL TAKE ANOTHER CALLER!”

           “Mettaton! You’re show made us so happy!” “Mettaton, I don’t know what I’ll watch without you.” “Mettaton! There’s a Mettaton-shaped hole in my Mettaton-shaped heart!”

           “…AH. I…” Mettaton’s eyes closed and his smile left. “I… I SEE.” His smile returned. “EVERYONE! THANK YOU SO MUCH! DARLING… PERHAPS IT MIGHT BE BETTER IF I STAYED A LITTLE WHILE LONGER. HUMANS HAVE STARS AND IDOLS. BUT MONSTERS ONLY HAVE ME. IF I LEFT, I’D LEAVE AN ACHING VOID THAT COULD NEVER BE FILLED. THE UNDERGROUND WOULD LOSE ITS SPARK. SO, I THINK I’LL HAVE TO… DELAY MY BIG DEBUT. BESIDES.” Mettaton lost his smile. A seriousness fell over his red-and-gray face. “YOU’VE PROVEN YOURSELF STRONGER THAN I ANTICIPATED. PERHAPS EVEN STRONG ENOUGH TO… TO GET PAST KING ASGORE. HAHA… I GUESS IT’S FOR THE BEST. THIS SUIT’S ENERGY CONSUMPTION IS… NOT THE BEST. SOON MY BATTERIES WILL DRAIN AND I’LL… HEH. YOU HAVE BIGGER PROBLEMS ON YOUR HEAD, DARLING. I’LL BE FINE. GO! FULFILL YOUR DESTINY. AND TO ALL OF MY WONDERFUL VIEWERS: THANK YOU!” Mettaton cried and looked about at his audience. “THANK YOU FOR STAYING TUNED AND STAYING WITH ME! GOODNIGHT!”

          Mettaton flashed one last smile at Frisk before his eyes and glowing heart dulled.

          Dr. Alphys unlocked the door and shuffled inside. “Mettaton?” For the first time Frisk, or Flowey, had ever seen, Dr. Alphys’ voice changed and their face contorted into a strange emotion. It was not the cold curiosity the scientist often held when they were not void of emotion. It was surprise and… fear?

          The scientist pushed past Frisk and knelt. “…it’s the batteries. Thank God. He’ll live-” Dr. Alphys’ expression of relief melted away. It was replaced by the same emotionlessness Frisk knew. “My project will continue to function. You may leave, Frisk.”

          Frisk nodded and limped out of the room. From there, the exhausted human and their flower friend trudged down the hall and to the elevator. They nearly pressed the button when Dr. Alphys’ voice called from the hallway: “Wait!”

          Frisk turned around and watched the reptilian scientist approach. “Hello, Dr. Alphys. Did you need something?”

          Dr. Alphys stopped in front of Frisk. “Yes. You know that the barrier can be broken. But did you hear about the legends of a being with a powerful soul being able to pass through it?”

          Frisk nodded. “Yeah. If I can make it, I can go past King Asgore and through the barrier.”

           “That’s only partially true. Your soul is strong, but not strong enough. In order to leave, you must absorb the soul of a monster,” Dr. Alphys stated. “But not just any monster: a boss monster. The only boss monster in the Underground is King Asgore. In order to leave, if you want to survive long enough to help the monsters without dying, you’ll need to kill King Asgore and take his soul. Do with this information what you wish. Goodbye.” Dr. Alphys turned and shuffled down the hallway, back to Mettaton.

          Frisk watched Dr. Alphys go. “I’ll… I’ll have to _kill_ him?”

          Flowey nodded. “If you want to leave.”

           “B-but I don’t want to kill anyone! I just want to help them break the barrier and be free.”

           “Frisk, let me give it to you straight. Either you kill King Asgore and go find a human soul to use, meaning you kill a _human_ , or you die and give up your own,” the flower stated.

           “I-I don’t- what should I do?” they asked helplessly.

           “I’m not going to make this choice for you, Frisk,” Flowey denied. “I’ve been helping you as much as I can, and I will continue to help you, but this is a choice you’re just going to have to make on your own. Let’s go. Time waits for no one, Frisk. Leaving is not an option.”

          Frisk nodded and stepped through the elevator. They pressed the only button on there. The trip to the castle seemed to take a very long time- much longer than any of the other elevators. Frisk stared at their feet. So, it was a choice. It was either King Asgore, the king of all monsters, or Frisk, the blind child that stumbled upon monster land. They traveled the underground for days. They made friends. They laughed and sang and danced. They dodged and they deflected attacks. They met new people all around the underground. Everyone looked up to King Asgore. What right did Frisk have to take his life? Yet, the thought of dying… now, after finding happiness for the first time in so long… after finding a reason to live…

          The elevator stopped. They stepped out. Their solemn journey through the gray-brick hallway was completely silent. The only noise came from Frisk’s feet on the ground and the sound of their breath. Some distance away, the rest of the city blossomed. Buildings of all shapes and sizes filled the underground. Activity filled the streets. So many souls, so many lives, all clustered together so tight.

          They came to a stop. A golden sparkle was before them.

          _“Determination.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nope! It was just a TV show with lots of fighting and danger! Or is that the definition of a boss fight...?

**Author's Note:**

> I'm posting a new chapter every Monday Wednesday and Friday so stay tuned!


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